Polo in Indio

When the WINs were parked in Indio, CA, we went to check out the polo grounds there. In addition to polo, there is a lovely large rose garden.

I couldn't believe how many blooms were out in the middle of winter.

Time to use the macro setting on my little Canon.

Bougainvillea climbed up many of the palm trees.

Anyone know what this tree is? It was just beautiful!

The polo grounds consisted of acres and acres of grass, with an occasional trail of horse poop.

It was not a very busy day, and we had to really search to find some players.

But finally we found a cute one!

And an even cuter one!

On January 6th, the Empire Polo Club in Indio is having Hat Day at their Sunday match. Free admission! Sounds like a lot of fun, I may go. Just have to find a hat....

The Living Desert

The Living Desert, in Palm Desert, CA is a wonderful zoo/botanical garden. Half is devoted to Africa, and half to North America.

I wandered around the Africa side with my friend Marian, who is an expert on African cats. It was like having my personal tour guide. Her favorite cat is the cheetah.

This is my favorite.

We went to 2 wildlife shows. This kookaburra thought everything was just hysterical.

But guess who was the star of the show! A serval!! Since I have a grandcat who is part serval (post here), I really liked this one.

She's quite a lover, especially when there's food involved.



See what those long legs are good for...

The tail end goes down the trap!

They have a huge animal hospital here -

With lots of different rooms.

But one thing you will definitely remember about The Living Desert is the model railroad - it covers 3/4 of an acre and 3300 feet of track.

The details are amazing.

It includes the world's longest G-scale wooden trestle - over 200 feet long.

They also have a really cool carousel.

But all good things must come to an end...

Festival of Lights

After Thanksgiving at Borrego Springs, the group moved on to the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, CA. They have a nice large lot, where you can park away from the few trucks that are also there.

Last Saturday we went to the Festival of Lights Parade in Palm Springs.

There were all kinds of vehicles decorated in thousands of lights, including lots of fire trucks from various cities and this garbage truck.

I sure hope there weren't any fires in Southern California that night....

We got there early and got good seats right by a traffic light. I didn't realize that all the floats would have to do the limbo to get under the lights.

We saw a huge Coca Cola truck, complete with the cute little polar bears inside.

The floats just got better and better!

I loved this old fire truck, and the horses -

And there was a Dalmatian running along too!

Remember this is Palm Springs - can't have any horse poop left on the street.

Finally - Santa and Mrs. Claus are here!

Before the parade, we went to see the big Marilyn Monroe statue here. I know you're all waiting for it ---

THE END!

(Well, after one more sunset photo...)

The Best Rusty Stuff EVER!

Near Borrego Springs is a giant miles-long park on private property. It is full of sculptures made of wonderful rusty stuff.

I was here 3 years ago (post here) but there are lots of new sculptures - over 100 all together now!

All are beautifully detailed.

This one reminds me of some of the 4-wheel drive trips we were on this summer....

The most exciting new one is this HUGE serpent - 350 feet long -

And twenty feet high.

The back end is across the road from the front end.

This sloth either lost his head, or doesn't have one yet.

The guys have to discuss the logistics of how to fix the problem.

Aaaaaaaa!!!!!

Scary as they are, they all have beautiful eye lashes.

Things got a little hairy at one point, and we sent Nelda out to take care of the problem.

Once we had to beat them off with sticks, in addition to Nelda's cane.

Whoa - you could have at least bought me a drink first!

Some other new ones - the vineyard workers -

And the grasshopper and scorpion.

Does this tail make my butt look big?

The sculptor must have a dedicated feather-maker - he needs lots of them.

WHOA! Wait a minute! Who is going to do the blog from now on???